No crank click sound problem then starts fine

[zukitrek]

Hi Fix.
My wife called today letting me know that the Kick would not crank (clicking sound). As I was not with her my only suggestion was to disconnect battery terminals (neg first then positive) and then try again. So she did and car started. The Kick used to do that a every once in a while (due to a bad positive terminal now replaced) but last time before today was 3 months ago on a very hot day. Neither plugs, rotor or wires have been changed(need to do soon). You know all the other problems (code 51, now solved) and the slipping tranny just to let you know kicks present condition. My question, what could be going on, if afterwards car starts fine and drives ok. I will check voltage again (I did about 3 weeks ago and everything was OK). Is there a test for the alternator?

Thanks again.

J

[gorkyb]

Hi zukitrek, I has the same symptoms on mine. Turned out to be bad battery terminals, for what they cost I would just replace them to rule out that being the issue. I had to clean the wires as good as I could when I had the old terminals off, before putting the new ones on. Hope this helps.

[zukitrek]

Thanks Gorkyb. That is what I ended up doing and the problem really went away until today. But I only changed the positive terminal which was the bad one at that moment. Yes I also removed the plastic cover a clean them with baking soda, but they were beyond help. Corrosion would comes up after a few days. Thats when I decided to change the whole terminal and wire. Maybe is the neg now?

J

[fixkick]

tell wife to wiggle the shifter, when it dont crank.
or teach here to start in neutral. the N contacts are problem virgin . so will crank now,.

step on brake
turn key to crank
if it fails, wiggle shifter as you crank.
if that fails move to neutral and foot on brake, and crank then wiggle in that spot.

i hope this above, prevents stranding.

[zukitrek]

Got it, but what would the problem be? Just now battery checked great on volts, 12.30 and then started and it measured 14.49. So my guess is probably starter motor? I had replaced the whole brush and graphite contacts set exactly 2 years ago.

J

[gorkyb]

Once the problem happens the. You wiggle the shifter like fixkick said, if this an nothing else starts the car then that'll give you a clue that the switch is the problem. I also had change only one of my terminals before and kept having the issue, I then just opted to replace both due to the low cost and the ease of changing them and never has the problem again. Not saying this is your issue but hopping is that simple.

[fixkick]

12.3v is a dead battery 50% actually, and is wrong, a very curious reading. unless was cranking it long and hard.
12.6v is charged 100% (summer rules)

14.9 is good running, batteries do go intermittent

[zukitrek]

12.3v is a dead battery 50% actually, and is wrong, a very curious reading. unless was cranking it long and hard.

No cranking, actually had taken a very long rest since the problem, about 4 hours had gone by. I thought that these cars needed at least 12v battery to start. It is not that old though?

J

[fixkick]

the engine will start fine with a 1/2 charge
the battery has 500 amps cold cranking spec. or more.
and the starter uses 100 amps
but my questions is , how in the world did you loose 1/2 a charge in the battery?
one trick on funky batteries is to swap it with another car, and see if the battery fails again.
keep in mind that wrong tall batteries can in fact hit the hood, on kicks. easy. spark = boom.

keep in mind, that is 6 batteries. 6 cells. and if one cell is weak. that makes them all weak.
because they are in SERIES. (cell resistance adds in a series circuit)
i used to service huge UPS systems (like 9-11 centers) and we used all ways to test a battery (and the systems)

1: a voltmeter like you did, if low?, it's removed, AFTER ALL our charging system is ok. (checked first)

2: we use this very expensive internal cell resistance checker, A.C resistance, in micro-ohms, this tells us 2 things. is it good, and how long is its life. (battery tables are used)

on some cars that are a PITA. i run a wire the starter solenoid. (tiny lug) to the cab (with 5amp inline fuse) and when the car fails to start i glance at the meter.
oh my, the voltage fell to 8v, but the cig lighter jack has 12v but the starter key line, was bad. (PRNDL switch) fails , i try neutral, it now works
or i do same to the + lug on the starter, mr big lug.
it drops , low, and the cables are bad.
or battery, is low, if the head lights dim, greatly cranking, the battery is bad or the cables.
using a volt meter, you can , in fact find any fault. using just 1 jumper wire.

when your gal heard the clunk, that means voltage below 8v.
8v is the magic number, the solenoid, , (some are 7v) drops dead. this is on PURPOSE so the silly thing dont eat to death the silly ring gear in that fly wheel.

so when you hear clunk.
is the battery at 12v?
is the solinoid 3 lugs all 11v or more cranking? yes, bad starter or its ground is loose.
8v? cranking, bad battery ,bad cables, bad ground.
8v? move the jumper up stream to see where the voltage drop happens.

many sidekicks the starter ground is not in the right place, at the top starter bolt or was never torqued to spec.

this is called nodal analysis. (its very easy to do, just tedious)
you can do that , or buy parts and guess.

why not add a dash voltmeter to the car like new cars have.
and see if the battery goes flat , just as the CRANK , happens. best bang for buck that.....
no matter what, it will get worse. no failure i can think of , does self healing, only progressive worse.

[zukitrek]

Great info as always sir. Ill look into that and and ket you know.

Great day!!